The brief
Pyramid AV approached us in search of assistance to help them promote their lighting concepts with a virtual reality simulation to Theatre Royal Plymouth company – which was looking to erect a large, public-facing sculpture called “The Messenger”.
The team at Fuel were brought on as a strategic partner in the conceptualisation and delivery of the lighting visualisation, which would encapsulate the true essence of the sculpture upon completion.
The work
We worked alongside the Pyramid AV team to create a number of lighting concepts using real-world lighting data and on-site surveys by creating a virtual reality simulation. The VR application took into account ambient lighting from local street lights, buildings and time of day – resulting in an accurate representation of the sculpture at all times of the day and in different lighting arrangements.
Over several sessions, the team at Pyramid AV provided edits and placement of these lights that allowed us to change them in real-time thanks to the Unreal Engine in which it was built.
This, combined with the accuracy of these lights that were provided by the lighting manufacturer IES lighting profiles, allowed us to get realistic fall-off and shape profiles for the lights in the scene to showcase via a virtual reality simulation.
The results
The lighting concept was demonstrated to the board of the theatre company at the site of the statue, in front of the TRP building. This allowed the board to put on a headset, visualise and walk around the yet-to-be-built statue – seeing it in various lighting options and conditions via the virtual reality simulation. This strategic collaboration resulted in the agreement and acceptance of the lighting contract, which gives us the lighting on the statue that you can see on display today.
